Mr. D.N.Pereira - (Douglas Noel), (D.N.P.), (D.N.) or otherwise known as “Bulto” to the many hundreds of students he taught during his long teaching career. I am so honoured to have been requested to write an article about my Dad for the S.T.C. OBA (Sydney Branch) Dinner Dance Souvenir of 2013. Thank you to Messrs: Milroy Berenger & David Sansoni for this opportunity.

I will start this profile of Dad giving you some family background details which not many of you will be aware of. Douglas was the 3rd son of C.V.Pereira – A Scholar & Writer of Latin Textbooks. C.V.Pereira along with Warden Stone wrote a Latin Text book that was used at STC.

The learned skills were instilled into my Dad by his father - C.V.Pereira - an old boy & learned Scholar of Trinity College, Kandy, Ceylon. C.V.Pereira was an only son of his parents & had only one sister. They were children of Victor Pereira who came to Colombo from Goa in India - a Portuguese explorer - who decided to make Kandy his home where he held a high position as a Planter on Choisy Estate in Ramboda. Victor Pereira ( my Dad’s Grandfather met & married Miss Harriett Jane Smith an English Spinster & daughter of His Majesty’s 95th Regiment Ensign -William Smith & his wife Eliza, who had been posted to Kandy, Ceylon to serve the British Army in the far East). (Records - from Anglican Diocesan Office of Kandy 1831 - 1855).

My Grandfather - C.V.Pereira - was a strict disciplinarian & having fathered 10 children was known to have excelled in Ancient Greek, Latin, English & English Literature. C.V. Pereira was a personal friend of the English Scholars & Pioneers that were associated with S.T.C. in the early 1900’s - one of them being Warden

Stone, who always invited C.V.P. as his guest to the Grand Hotel in Nuwara Eliya for the Easter holidays.

My Dad was nurtured in this background and was guided by his father to be a Scholar & Teacher of the Classics too. Dad or D.N.P. accepted the strict upbringing he had from his father who was sorted out by many parents of students at STC to tutor their boys in the early 1900’s.

In 1929 C.V.Pereira built a 14 bed roomed house and named it “New Haven” down at No: 94 Watarappola Road in Mount Lavinia. The purpose of building such a huge house was mainly to take in some boarders. Many a student was taken in to be tutored in Ancient Greek & Latin. The building of “New Haven” in Mount Lavinia by my Grandfather - C.V.Pereira - was especially significant too as it was the 1st two-storey house to be built besides that of the Governor’s House on the Mound - that was to later become the Mount Lavinia Hotel. My grandfather’s house still exists & is in pristine condition!!

D.S.Senanayake the first Prime Minister of Ceylon sent his son Dudley to my Grandfather C.V.P. for private tuition. Dudley was driven for tuition in a Govt chauffeured vehicle as a young man to my Grandfather’s home - “New Haven”. My Dad’s Godfather was Sir Oliver Goonetilleke - Ceylon’s first Governor General & another distinguished Thomian.

It was in this background that my Dad - D.N.P. was nurtured to be the man he was known as - a strict disciplinarian, Master of the Cane, pedantic in his teaching skills and a human being with unusual habits.

D.N.Pereira was born on 27th April 1915 - a Taurus & proud of his Astrological sign. He was an avid reader of all literature, a great writer, Scholar himself in Ancient Greek & Latin. He thrived on Shakespeare & was incredibly knowledgeable in his English. Dad enjoyed writing “Speeches” for many people to use for various functions. It was so interesting to see my father with red pen posed in his right hand always ready to correct any grammar or spelling he would pick in an article - be it in a newspaper or even in a letter he had received from a friend. The teacher instinct in him always prevailed!!

Many of my Dad’s students remember their past teacher for his many handkerchiefs he carried with him on a daily basis. He had one hanky for his sweaty & wet brow, one hanky to prevent him inhaling dust & chalk dust, one hanky to clean his fingers after he had used chalk to write on the blackboard, another hanky was for neatly laying on the chair before he sat on it & the last hanky was for cleaning his shiny shoes he was always known to wear.

Dad always came home for lunch and changed his cream tussore suit and went back for the afternoon session in yet another complete change of clothes - right from his underdaks, vest or (banian) as it was called then, shirt, full suit, tie & even his well polished shoes. As it is always known to be - behind many a successful man is a woman and all due praise goes to my Mum - Nora - who

ironed my Dad’s clothes & laundered his numerous handkerchiefs for him to use in his daily run of duties as a teacher.

D.N.P. was a well respected teacher, having taught at St. Thomas’ in Matara & later at Richmond College in Galle prior to arriving at STC in Mt. Lavinia in 1951. As a Senior Master at STC Dad enjoyed his many years of teaching the

numerous students that passed through his guidance & nurturing. As the Master in Charge of the STC Magazine at Mt. Lavinia for many years - this was for him a valuable period of his teaching career he enjoyed immensely. I too got involved in his teaching career as Dad had many a student himself come home for private tuition - English or Latin. Dad would give me various tasks of writing an English Essay at our dining table during the period of time he would have “the boys” attend their tuition in his study at the long table he inherited from his father for teaching private students at home specifically. It was my Dad’s way of keeping me away from the many Thomians that graced our humble home in Mount Lavinia.

Dad was known as “Bulto” a nickname he received at STC in the early 1950’s - around 1953/1954 when he stopped smoking the 15 cigarettes a day quota he allotted himself and he took to sucking the black and white striped lolly called “Bulto”! This nickname stayed with him throughout his entire teaching career at STC.

In 1959 Dad applied to migrate to Australia from Ceylon and we were accepted under the “White Australia Policy” - but on being passed to migrate my Dad had second thoughts and he felt that STC needed him more than the “new country” and we declined the move. However, in 1972 the need to migrate was more evident as he had lost his many hours of teaching in the English syllabus - his hours of teaching greatly reduced by half with the introduction of Sinhalese as the main language of the Country.

We migrated mid year in 1972 - Dad was 57 years of age - he taught in Australia until his retirement age of 65+. Sadly he developed Type 2 Diabetes and had many of his organs affected by the condition. He was happy to see me meet and marry Ian King (who hailed from the U.K.) in 1975 and above all, he was so happy to become a Grandfather to our only child - a daughter - Karen who was born in 1981. Her early years were nurtured by Dad. Karen remembers the “copy book writers” & stories Dad read to her, the English lessons & lessons on life that were instilled into her at a young age. Karen always talks of the “school holidays” spent with her Grandparents & the valuable hours he spent with her till his demise when she was 11+ years old. The “teacher” in him never “retired”!! Dad will be proud of Karen as she is a vocational trainer/career path guide in her field of employment for adults returning to the workforce.

D.N.P. enjoyed his 3 years as President of the STC OBA (Melbourne Branch) in the 1980’s. Those who were on his Committee over that period of time recall the delicious pan rolls, patties, fish ball cutlets & Dutch Bolo Fiado delicacies provided by my Mum - Nora - for the Committee Meetings. Dad was also the writer of the “Thomiana” journal - the STC OBA “Newsletter”. The hours he spent seeking “news” of “Old Boys”, making phone calls both local & interstate was phenomenal. His pleasures were simple - his entire life was dedicated to his Alma Mater. Dad was a true Thomian to his dying day. My Dad –

D.N.Pereira - will be a Thomian legend – he lived & died for STC. Maybe up in Heaven he is keeping records of STC Old Boys that enter the Gates of Heaven!!

Your father taught me for almost two years in Form V, and the Lower Sixth, and I learned to love the Romance Languages because I was at the top of the class with Ferdinando, the unbeatable.....
My father and Grandpa were both physicians from Jaffna ( Alma Mater being St. John's College, Jaffna, a CMS School, begun in 1823 ), and My Father was himself a Latin scholar, who would include Latin phrases in his personal letters. He had hoped that I would follow in his footsteps,and even kept his Gray's Anatomy book, the Bible of physicians, for me. He felt that a sound knowledge of Latin was important for a scientist.....He was spot on!
I chose engineering and eventually became a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California. Your Dad's firm grounding in Latin has helped me to understand, English ( 60% Latin and Greek, 40 % Anglo Saxon and French etc),Spanish, which I speak in California, and Italian.
In addition I will soon be marrying a lovely Lady From California of French/Italian/German origin, born in New Orleans, and she speaks four Languages...French, Italian, Spanish , and English of course!
Your Father was a superb, teacher and he instilled in me a love for the classics, and it evolved into a love of archeology and history. I include examples of military campaigns conducted by Alexander, Napolean, Caesar,The Persians, Indians, etc in my preface to my lectures due to my love for the Romance languages, initiated by me having an understanding of Latin, thanks to "Bulto" ...God Bless him..... and you for penning this epistle to us all......Brought back fond memories of my childhood in the best School in the world...second to none....ESTO PERPETUA!!
MY LIFE'S MOTTO IS......Esto Perpetua Lux in Tenebris Lucet....Be thou forever a Light that shines in the Darkness.

Thank you very much for this Sriyan.I do look forward to reading this and sending some comments.I have fond memories of my English teacher.Due to the likes of him,FJ Senaratne and Arndt, I coming from the rural backwoods, was able to pick up this foreign language called English.Now when I travel abroad,people ask me whether I had my secondary education in England? They and your father were a class apart and merit will accrue to them always.
warm regards,
Rohan.
On Thu, Jul 4, 2013 at 10:45 AM, Royle Jansz <roylejansz@yahoo.com> wrote:

What prompted me to write about our beloved master Douglas Noel Pereira (popularly known as D N Pereira) is that he was both a student and a teacher of St. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia which is indeed remarkable. But in addition to this, I believe that among many an old boy who has served the College, D N Pereira is one who had dedicated his entire life to the College.

D.N. Pereira was born on 27th April 1915 to a family of ten siblings. His father was a well known Latin and English scholar who has published text books in Latin. Mr. D N Pereira was born under the star sign Taurus which he was proud of according to his only daughter Corrine. My interpretation of Taureans is that they are service oriented and are very reliable and dedicated individuals and Mr. D N Pereira definitely epitomised that.

Following in his father’s footsteps he was an avid reader of all literature, a talented writer and a scholar in Ancient Greek and Latin. Shakespeare would have been his favourite writer and his knowledge in English was incomparable. A master in grammar, he did not hesitate to correct anyone if he saw any grammatical mistakes.

Mr. D N Pereira was from an affluent family and Sir Oliver Gunatillake was his God Father. However, he never attempted to bring these influential links or play politics in his teaching career, as he was a confident scholar and did not need to flaunt his family ties.

Dress Code

I met Mr. D N Pereira in grade 8 at S. Thomas’s College. His appearance was not only attractive, but had the subtle effect on all young Thomians as to how one should dress to command respect from others. He always wore a well ironed tweed trouser and coat suit with a red tie. His brown leather shoes were so shiny we used to say that one could use it as a mirror to comb the hair. Without his or our knowledge, he was our role model.

Even today I would always wear well- ironed and polished shoes. He never uttered a word about how a Thomian should dress, but by setting an example he has created a tradition which we continue to this day. Sadly, we cannot say much about the attire of the present-day teachers. Except for a handful of headmasters in a few urban schools, the other male teachers do not seem to make an attempt on their dress code.

"Exam question papers which were prepared by teachers and were copied on a Roneo machine, never leaked to the students or anyone else. In fact paper leaking was unheard of. Not forgetting that with such primitive reprographic facilities, the chances were greater of someone taking a copy of the exam paper"

Discipline

Ensuring discipline within the College was different during our time. Apart from the Warden there were a few teachers who were given the authority to cane students. Mr. D N Pereira was one of them. He hardly exercised that authority. His presence and the mere mention of his name was enough to keep the students in order. He was known as “Bulto”; a very hard and chewy toffee at that time which was so sticky that one could only suck it till the end. He took his role as both a disciplinarian and role model so seriously that he gave up smoking to set the right example for his students. Any punishment meted out was never malicious. He always said; “Please bear in mind that the good and the bad you do in life, will have a reflection on the College”.

A Pillar of the College

He joined S. Thomas’ College at a time when the College was famous for languages such as Greek, Latin and English. Being a scholar of all three languages, he was a much sought after teacher. Prior to joining S. Thomas’, he served at the St Thomas’ College Matara as well as at Richmond College, Galle. His career at his own School STC Mt. Lavinia began in 1951. Wearing the dual hats of an old boy and a teacher of the school, he played a pivotal role in the College administrative sphere. He was a service oriented man and thus he chose the teaching profession. He always found the time to give extra support in studies for children, which in this day and age would be called “tuition”, the difference being he charged no fee.

Commitment to Profession

Punctuality, they say is the politeness of princes. Well, Mr D N Pereira was royalty indeed. Not only was he punctual, he was hardly absent. Sharp on the bell, he would enter the classroom. He always checked the homework which he had given the previous day. He finishes his lesson two minutes before the next bell and places his books into the brown leather case and leaves for the next class, to be there on time. The school session was from 8.15 in the morning till 3.05 in the afternoon with a lunch interval of one hour. Mr Pereira always went home for lunch. I recently found out that he always changed into a fresh suit when he came back for the second session.

"Sadly, we cannot say much about the attire of the present-day teachers. Except for a handful of headmasters in a few urban schools, the other male teachers do not seem to make an attempt on their dress code"

Language and Literature

He taught us English Language and Literature. Unfortunately I could not take Latin and Greek. However, during that time there were many a Greek and Latin scholar in the College including Rev. Lucien Fernando. He used to write comments in our books in Latin and Greek using red ink, in order to encourage us to find the meaning. We always had to go to another Latin scholar such as Mr. D N Pereira to find the meaning.

Most of us selected English Literature. It was a difficult subject and only a few teachers were able to take it. I still remember how Mr. Pereira defined literature. “Literature is reading and understanding”. He taught us poetry and prose. I always marvelled at the wealth of knowledge he possessed. He had acquired vast knowledge through reading, a habit that the teachers of today lack. We were indeed the fortunate ones to have learnt from him as well as inherited the habit of reading.

Conducting Examinations

The examinations during the time of D N Pereira were to help students excel. He was very keen to mould proper Thomians out of every student. Exam question papers which were prepared by teachers and were copied on a Roneo machine, never leaked to the students or anyone else. In fact paper leaking was unheard of. Not forgetting that with such primitive reprographic facilities, the chances were greater of someone taking a copy of the exam paper.

The Loss

In 1959 he had applied to migrate to Australia and was given the opportunity. He was probably the only one who declined such a great opportunity to stay back in the country because he felt that the College needed his services. However, in 1972 the need to migrate was more evident as he had lost his many hours of teaching in the English syllabus - his hours of teaching greatly reduced by half with the introduction of Sinhalese as the main language of instruction. Late SWRD Bandaranaike’s policy decision for short term political gain resulted in making excellent English scholars like DN Pereira to leave the country. And that is how the country lost a great English scholar. Sri Lanka’s loss was Australia’s gain. He started teaching in Australia from the age of 57 till after 65 years.

To him, serving his College was the ultimate joy. We were fortunate to have been the students of such a true Thomian legend who served his College till his last breath.

From: Corinne King <kings3@bigpond.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 8:21 PM
Subject: Article on D.N.PEREIRA - A Thomian Legend as written by his daughter - Corinne King
To:

Hi to all the "Thomians" on my email listing, (Some ladies on the "Undisclosed Recipient" list - please alert the "Old Thomian" in your life)!!

I was invited to write an article on my Dad for the STC OBA Sydney Branch Dinner Dance Souvenir back in March this year. At first I was reluctant to do so as I had never ever been requested to write anything about my Dad over the past 20 years since his death. I was however very pleased that I accepted the kind invitation & on completion of the article and emailing it to Messrs. Milroy Berenger, David Sansoni & Chris Piachaud, I did have an overwhelming response to the material contained therein.

It gives me great pleasure to "share" this article with all the "Thomians" I have in my email address book. I took an oath with the 3 loyal & dedicated Thomians who undertook the mammoth task to compile the Souvenir of a great standard and that was that I would not disclose the article to anyone before it appeared in the Dance Souvenir on 29th June (last Saturday). Compiling & editing material for a souvenir are not easy feats either. The Sydney Dinner Dance held last Saturday was a tremendous success I believe.

I am making one request of you all though - please read it right through and send me your "kindly responses". You can share the attached article with other Thomians who would have been under the academic guidance of my Dad, if you so wished. I will look forward to all your responses. As indicated in my article there are many "unknown facts" about my Dad that have now been disclosed. I am sure he would be happy with the finished product!! The 3 aforementioned Sydney "Old Thomians" did commend me on my style and material!!

Kindest regards to all in this email "mailout" - I will look forward to your "responses" about my Dad - a true gentleman, husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, family man, loyal friend & above all a "staunch & true Old Thomian"!!

You can write me an email as I will be having access to my emails while on holidays overseas as from 6th to 20th July via my mobile phone and tablet.

Cheers,

Corinne

P.S. Special note for Trevor Meares - when publishing this in the next issue of the "Thomiana" please do not condense it as some of the detail could be lost in the process.

Also, Shirley de Silva (G.S.S. de Silva) who attended the Senior's Lunch on June 16th - I know you spoke to me about receiving this article from me in due course & your wish to publish it in a Newsletter of yours back in Sri Lanka - please do not condense it for obvious reasons as some valuable information may be omitted in the process.

From: Corinne King <kings3@bigpond.com>
Date: Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 8:36 AM
Subject: Re: Article on D.N.PEREIRA - A Thomian Legend as written by his daughter - Corinne King

Hi Sriyan,

Thank you for your response to me regarding my article on my Dad. Your lovely response came just 2 days before my husband Ian & I left for a long overdue and well earned overseas holiday (Indonesia & Thailand). I have my Mum living with us and I care for her every need and at 92+ the tasks are quite demanding as you may understand. I had to get Mum suitable Nursing Home "respite care" accommodation prior to us taking a break. We had not had a holiday in 3 & 1/2 years (in fact nearly 4 years) and this was necessary for us all to have a break. Ian & I are now back on "terra firma" & Mum enjoyed her time in an Aged Care Residential Home. Our daughter Karen & her husband did a marvellous job monitoring the care and progress of her Grandma & sending me updated email accounts with a photo attached to give me great peace of mind while I was on holiday. We are such a small close knit family - just the 5 of us & we needed to have a break from the normal "mundane" chores of life!!

I thank you for your kindly response to my article on Dad & also thank you for the wide circulation it received, proof of which is in some of the responses I received from all over the globe.

Many thanks indeed, God Bless you and yours & the wonderful work you do for your "Alma Mater".